Page 13 of Imogen

“Are Evan and Kennedy with her?”

“Yes, and Joshua just arrived. Evan really wants to see you.”

“Will you go and let him know I wish to see him, please? The nurse said he has been there since they brought me in.”

“He has. He worries too, my son. I think he feels guilty.”

“He has no reason to,” I assure her.

She gets up, but before she leaves, she leans over and presses her lips to my forehead. “I’ll go let them know, and then I’ll go and meet your siblings at the entrance.”

“Thank you,Mamma,” I respond.

I lean back when she leaves, my mind clouded with thoughts. Evan will never replace my father, but there is no denying he has become a father figure in my life. He has been someone I’ve looked up to, and is the person I owe my life to. He saved me from a prison sentence. Dropping the theft charges wasn’t enough for the police as they didn’t believe I wasn’t associated with the gang. Evan did believe me, and took time to gather evidence to prove my statement. Thanks to him, I have no criminal record, and my affiliation to the gang was erased, since I had only been doing it to save my brother. It was my brother who stole the car. It was a miracle I even caught up to him, considering I was on my bike. But he was also a twelve-year-old who hadn’t driven before. He was a mess, sobbing that they made him do it, and he didn’t know what to do.

I will never forget that moment. He had been so scared, so I had to save him. So as soon as I saw the flashing blue lights, I threw him out of the car, ordered him to run home to Mum, and drove away. I drove a few streets away from where I left him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to catch up with me in the state he was in. I parked and waited for the police to find me.

Evan saw through all of that. I owe him everything because the policeman that arrested me had it out for the gang—and rightly so. They tried to mug his wife in town, but she put up a fight. A group of them attacked her, and her injuries were severe enough that she didn’t make it off the ground.

The door opens, and Evan holds it open for his wife—Kennedy. “Hey,” I greet.

“Sweetheart, how are you feeling?” Kennedy asks softly, moving over to the side of my bed.

“I’ve been better,” I admit.

“Kid, you had me worried,” Evan declares, his jaw clenching.

I arch a brow. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I’m so sorry, kid. I should have taken the job knowing how dangerous it was,” he replies, squeezing my calf.

“You can’t protect everyone,” I point out. “This is my job, and I think I’m good at it.”

“You excel in it,” he responds earnestly.

“Then you know it’s a responsibility we all take on. You can’t save us from that. I’m just sorry I let you down. I thought our plan was solid.”

“It was solid. No one expected him to get into the home.”

I grimace at the reminder. I checked the security myself. “Do you know how Cyrus got in?”

“He cut the wires,” he explains.

“But they’re under the dirt.”

“He knew where to dig. It’s why none of you knew. All the sensors had been disarmed.”

“It’s a miracle they are all okay,” I murmur, lost in my thoughts for a minute. “They have a little girl. After they had the fight at the lodge, I tried talking Cole into being honest with Emily so her and Poppy could go back home. I nearly got a little girl killed,” I choke out, the real issue finally surfacing. It’s why I don’t deserve to take Cole’s thank you present. I could have been responsible for him losing the two most important people to him. “If he had listened to me, if they had moved back, she would have been killed and the blood would have been on my hands.”

“Hey, no, no, no,” Evan stresses. “You can’t think like that. You just can’t. It will eat at you.”

Kennedy takes my hand. “It will.”

I hate that he’s seeing me so weak. I wipe away a tear, frustrated with myself. “How can I not? Fuck, none of this should have happened.”

“I know a woman who was once caring for a baby,” Kennedy begins, her eyes closing, but it doesn’t mask her pain quick enough.

“Babe,” Evan softly responds.

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